Deploy and Host

WriteFreely is a clean, Markdown-based publishing platform made for writers: start a blog, share knowledge, or build a community — with federation, so people on the fediverse can follow your blog. One click deploys the official image (writefreely/writefreely v0.17.3, AGPL-3.0) as a single service with an embedded SQLite database. The deploy form has one generated field — an admin password — and nothing else to fill in. On first boot the admin account (owner + your generated password) is created automatically; log in and write your first post.

About Hosting

WriteFreely runs as one Go-binary service from the official image, pinned by digest. The config, SQLite database, and federation keys live on a Railway volume (/data) and survive redeploys. The binary boots in about a second and runs in well under 256 MB, so it fits easily on the Hobby plan with no companion services. Railway's injected PORT is written into the generated config.ini on every boot, and the healthcheck is the landing page (/, unauthenticated).

Why Deploy

Zero-fuss start: no setup wizard to click through, no email step — the admin account is seeded on first boot.
Real blogging: Markdown editor, drafts, collections, reader view, and ActivityPub federation — your blog can be followed from Mastodon and the fediverse.
Always-on by design: a single Go binary with an embedded SQLite database — it stays readable the moment you open it.
Private by default: single-user mode with open registration off; only the admin can post.

Common Use Cases

A personal blog with a clean, distraction-free reading experience.
A team or company blog: the admin writes, readers follow via RSS or the fediverse.
A private writing space: single-user mode with open registration off — only the admin can post.

Dependencies for

Deployment Dependencies

Runtime: single Go-binary service; runs in well under 256 MB.
Port: 8080 internally, mapped from Railway's injected PORT.
Persistence: one Railway volume at /data (config, SQLite database, federation keys).
Healthcheck: / (landing page, unauthenticated).
Plan tier: Hobby plan; no companion services.

Environment variables (condensed reference): WRITEFREELY_ADMIN_PASSWORD (${{secret(16)}} — admin password, set once on first boot; must not contain a colon), PORT (injected by Railway and mapped automatically). The entrypoint writes /data/config.ini each boot with single-user defaults (single_user = true, open_registration = false, federation = true, theme = write) and the public host derived from RAILWAY_PUBLIC_DOMAIN.